Trouble comes in threes
by Faust Love
Summary: Gabrielle is a girl with special powers, a curse, until one night she and avian meet three men who will change their lives forever. Vincent, Sepiroth, and Irvine try to help but is Gabrielle in too far for even them to help? Or will love prevail over all?
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1

A girl in a miniskirt with a light blue duster over a tight black shirt turned to her friend.

"Why did we come to this party again?" the girl asked. Her friend was dressed in a sleeveless leather trenchcoat over a low-cut black shirt and skintight black leather pants with knee-high leather boots.

"Because we thought a cosplay kegger sounded like the perfect thing to do this weekend." Her friend said mockingly.

"Okay, Gabrielle, we are stupid." Avian blushed. Gabrielle narrowed her red-golden eyes.

"Speak for yourself, Avian." Gabrielle added sarcastically.

"Okay, don't look at me like that." Avian flipped her flaming red hair over her shoulder.

"Avian, if I'm caught, well…let's just say I'll be even more dead than I am now…ehhe (bad vampire joke)" Gabrielle stared around the room, the music was throbbing in a constant steady beat, "I've got to get out of here." She looked around for the exit, and spotting one she dashed towards it. Two men walked in the door, stopping Gabrielle's escape, she barely avoided running into them.

"Ummm…sorry" she averted her eyes downward and attempted to shuffle through the door.

Avian caught up with her saying, "Gabrielle, what-" She then caught sight of the two strikingly good-looking guys who had just come in, and stared for a moment before turning back to her friend. Avian grabbed Gabrielle and made her way to the bar.

"Woah! Gabrielle, you just bumped into the hottest guys I have ever seen!"

"Who cares…" muttered Gabrielle distractedly, still looking for an exit. Then Gabrielle read Avian's mind.

"Oh… You have a point."

" I told you not to read my mind without telling me!"

"Whatever… okay I'll stay"

"Woohoo! I convinced you without saying a word!"

"Shut up…" Gabrielle looked pointedly behind Avian. The lamp hanging from the ceiling suddenly fell to the floor with a deafening crash; everyone went silent, except for the steady throb of the music. They all stared at the two girls.

"Damn-it, now I really have to go…" Gabrielle dashed past Avian and ran out the door.

"Freak" "psycho" "Lunatic" were heard as she ran, tears streamed down her cheeks _Why do I always lose control. I'll never fit in…_

"Shut up you bastards!" Avian screamed at the nearest laughing and yelling people, and took off after Gabrielle, shoving people out of her way, hard. At the exit, one of the guys who had just entered the party grabbed Avian's wrist. She whipped around, giving him the death glare with her bright green eyes, slightly out of breath.

"Why did she try to run?" he asked, looking around at the jeering crowd with hate in his eyes.

"Because people are jackasses, now let go of me!"

"No, let us help you. This has happened before." He then gave Avian a mischievous grin, and she watched curiously as he casually moved to the light switches, and turned them off, causing everyone to scream. Then he muttered something under his breath and a vampiric looking beast started making its way through the crowd, scaring everyone by walking through them. Everyone was screaming and trying to get out of the way, and the other guy put his arm around Avian and dragged her through the door. Avian struggled free of his grasp, and screamed

"WHAT THE FUCKIN' HELL WAS THAT!"

He answered calmly, "That was Vincent. He will be joining us as soon as we get a bit further away from the party." They walked down the sidewalk, and soon a man dressed in red and black leather joined them. Avian was frantically looking around for Gabrielle, and she spotted her sitting behind a tree, just out of the light of a street lamp. She made her way over to her friend and knelt down.

"Gabrielle, are you all right?" She asked.

"Why the hell do you think I'd be all right!" Gabrielle sobbed burying her head in her leather-clad knees.

"My powers got away from me! Last time they did someone almost died!" Another wave of sobs racked her body, making her seem fragile and defenseless.

Vincent moved towards Gabrielle. "I know how you feel."

"Get away from her!" Avian shouted, shoving Vincent away from Gabrielle.

"No, let him." Came a muffled voice.

"Gabrielle, you don't know what he can do! He's a monster!" Avian ran to once again intercept Vincent's advance towards Gabrielle, but felt two strong arms grab her from behind, and she whipped around to find the guy who had dragged her from the party holding her close to his body, so that she couldn't get away. Vincent approached Gabrielle carefully, and knelt down next to her. He whispered gently,

"I know how you feel. Avian thinks I'm a monster because I can turn into one." Gabrielle felt calmer as she listened to his voice.

"When I found out about my abilities, I tried them out at a party when I was 13. I went to a room to try them out. I had not yet learned to tame the beast inside of me." Everyone stood quietly, listening to Vincent.

"I nearly killed a girl that I had a crush on for a while. When I came to, I realized what I had done, and I revived her using a couple of spells. Everyone else had gotten away from me, but she did not. I attacked her first. After I did what I could, I called the hospital and went there with her until she recovered. After she had thanked me for saving her from that monster, I left her, and as soon as I turned 18, I left town. During this time I had gone to an empty field every night and tried to control myself. I mastered the beast by the time I was 17, and now I can control it. You can do the same, and I can teach you."

Gabrielle suddenly got up and brushed herself off.

"Let's go." This took everyone by surprise, but they left for Avian's apartment, with Gabrielle leading the way.

They stared at her until they reached Avian's apartment, Gabrielle caught snippets of their thoughts. "Don't look at me so strangely, I'm bi-polar. Just ask Avian." She continued on without saying another word. Avian, however, was still giving cowboy-hat-man the death glare, as he still had his arm around her. She then glanced at the stranger who had grabbed her wrist.

"Who are you guys anyway? I'm not letting you into my apartment until I at least know your names."

"I'm Irvine, and this is Sephiroth. And of course, you already know Vincent." said the guy with his arm around Avian.

"Okay, Irvine, would you mind terribly releasing me?" Sephiroth and Vincent snorted, and Irvine let go of Avian, scowling at his companions. Gabrielle looked at Sephiroth appraisingly, and raised her eyebrows at Avian, who grinned back and nodded. Even though she wasn't psychic, Avian knew what she meant. Gabrielle thought that his green eyes, flecked with a silver color that matched his hair, were very intriguing. Sephiroth glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and Avian made a mental note to tell Gabrielle, but now she needed to get to the front of the group and let everyone in.


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2

When Avian opened her apartment, a small black ball came hurling at the group, and Avian caught this ball in her arms.

"Poor Leahann, she's been drinking too much coffee again." Avian said to the three stunned boys, who were staring at the small person struggling to get free of Avian's playful chokehold. Avian then let go of her roommate, grinning at her, and introduced her to the men.

"Hey, Leahann, this is Irvine, Sephiroth, and Vincent. Guys, this is Leahann, my roommate."

"Sadly enough." Gabrielle interjected. The guys acknowledged Leahann, and she nodded to them, then stepped back and made way for everyone to get inside, and punched Gabrielle playfully as she came in. Gabrielle meanwhile, not in the best of moods, tossed Leahann out the door, locking it behind her. Muffled shouts of,

"Let me in!" and profanities too rude to mention were heard from the other side of the door. Avian called to Gabrielle,

"Let her in Gabrielle." In an exasperated tone, as though this happened everyday. Gabrielle let Leahann in, and then stuck her tongue out at Gabrielle. Avian rolled her eyes and stopped Irvine, Sephiroth, and Vincent before they came any farther into the room, asking them to take off their shoes. They obliged while Avian took their coats to the closet. Gabrielle and Leahann, meanwhile, had gone into the kitchen and taken out some drinks and tortilla chips for everyone. They all plopped down in the tiny living room, Irvine pointedly taking the seat beside Avian, and Gabrielle sitting on a couch with Sephiroth, while Leahann and Vincent sat in the two other chairs. They were just about to start all the explaining when there was an impossibly loud banging from the front door. Irvine raised his eyebrows at the male voice that was yelling, which sounded quite drunk also. Leahann went to the door and listened for a moment, then told Avian,

"It's Joey. He's drunk, the stupid ass." She opened the door a crack, and when Joey tried to force his way in, she kicked him with surprising momentum in the shin causing him to say stupidly,

"Heyyyy…now tha' hurtshhh…" along with some other profanities. Gabrielle shot out of the living room, running to her room, shouting along the way,

"For the love of all that is evil and twisted! Don't let him in!" She reappeared a moment later dressed in riot control armor.

"Okay, I'm ready now." An awkward silence ensued, and Avian looked from Gabrielle to Irvine. Irvine was turning red in the face from the effort of not laughing.

"Don't you dare laugh," Avian cautioned, "You remember what happened last time she was embarrassed. I don't want my apartment ruined." Irvine immediately turned pale and nodded. Leahann let Joey in, and he had been leaning on the door, so he fell right into the door. Gabrielle tensed, getting ready to attack Joey as soon as Leahann got out of the way. While all this was going on, Avian was explaining to Irvine and Sephiroth what they were doing. Vincent had gotten to his feet in case Gabrielle lost control.

"You see, every so often one of our friends will get rather drunk, so sometimes they appear at our doorstep. It's Gabrielle's job to knock them out, then Leahann and I drag them to the kitchen to sleep it off."

"Well why to you let them in!" asked Irvine.

"Because we don't want them getting run over or something."

Gabrielle snorted. "Dammit."

"Yeah, Gabrielle wishes we could just let certain ones get run over. I prefer not to, so we just deal." Irvine's eyes widened a little at the idea of these girls handling this on a regular basis, _but hey, that's life, I guess…_

"This time, it's Leahann's boyfriend. Gabrielle thinks he's a stupid ass, and is going to knock him out anyway, or he might puke all over the carpet. That's her excuse anyway." Then Irvine, Sephiroth, and Avian got up to observe the proceedings better. Leahann was keeping Joey busy fending her off, while Gabrielle and Vincent approached from behind Joey. Then Gabrielle smacked Joey over the head, drawing his attention to her. The she touched his forehead while he was trying to make his eyes focus, and he slumped to the floor with a loud echoing thud.

Gabrielle said, "Well, I always knew his head was empty, that just confirms it." She then walked off to her room, stepping on Joey unceremoniously. Avian grinned at the slight frown Leahann gave Gabrielle, then went to help Leahann move Joey to his usual spot under the table.

"Actually," said Gabrielle, "We should put him in one of the rooms if we're going to do our explanations of our…erm…conditions and such." Avian and Leahann grabbed Joey's arms and legs, but Irvine and Sephiroth stopped them, and lugged Joey into Leahann's room, and dropped him on the mattress, making his head collide with LeahAnn's guitar. The guitar then collided with the wall causing random objects to fall from a shelf above Leahann's bed and hit Joey in the head. Joey moaned drunkenly as the objects struck him.

Avian glared at Gabrielle and said "Gabrielle! Why'd you do that!"

Gabrielle tried to look as innocent as she could in a black leather outfit and replied "Do what?"

Avian sighed and led them out of Leahann's room. Vincent stood in the hallway waiting for Gabrielle. When she finally appeared he pulled her aside.

"Did you cause that chain-reaction back there?" Vincent demanded.

"What do you think? I do stuff like that to Joey all the time, Avian knows I do. Once I gave him an atomic wedgie from the next building, of course I had Leahann record the whole thing. Joey's reaction was priceless!" Gabrielle chuckled, while Vincent looked subtly mortified. Gabrielle walked down the hallway "What, you mean you don't play jokes on your friends?" Gabrielle asked somewhat shocked by Vincent's stern "No"

"Whatever, I guess I just have more of a sense of humor than you, meh." Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the couch next to Sephiroth. Avian was seated next to Irvine, so Vincent, feeling left out took a seat in the recliner. Then they began to talk, occasionally sipping their wine. Vincent explained that his mother had volunteered for some experimental work, and didn't know she was pregnant until it was too late, and had him, a seemingly normal baby boy. She died in a reactor explosion shortly after, while he was safe at daycare. Gabrielle explained that her mom was drinking a very strong alcohol that had been tampered with due to a man who was going to date rape her. He was also an experimental escapee.

Sephiroth screamed, "DAMN YOU HOJO, YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF ALL THESE PROBLEMS!"

Gabrielle said, "Calm down Sephiroth, what's your story?"

"May I suggest anger management?" Leahann interrupted.

"Shut up Leahann." Gabrielle snapped.

"Make me!" Leahann shouted jumping off the chair and running down the hall.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, now Sephiroth, continue." Gabrielle stared into his deep green eyes, the flecks of silver in them danced in lazy swirling circles.

Sephiroth stood up and took off his coat, revealing a tattooed number on his left arm. Staring at his naked, finely chiseled chest, Gabrielle suddenly blushed, everyone in the room could tell what she was thinking. Ignoring Gabrielle's red face and obvious thoughts, Sephiroth began to speak;

"I was the artificial product of an Ancient's DNA and a human embryo, Hojo was the head scientist on the project, I grew up in a laboratory. I heard rumors of other escaped experiments like my self, so you see Gabrielle and Vincent, Hojo is the reason we're the way we are."

"well at least now I know who's responsible! I'll make him pay!" Gabrielle jumped up, Seprioth attempted to pull her back down but she slipped out of his grasp, her black leather grew tighter as her muscles got tense, ready for a fight.

"There's only one problem Gabrielle, Hojo's dead." Sephiroth mumbled shaking his head.

"How?" Gabrielle demanded.

"I killed him when I escaped." Seprioth twisted his hands nervously, he couldn't look at Gabrielle, the anger in her eyes reminded him too much of himself.

"I hope you made him suffer." Gabrielle spat. Sephiroth was once again reminded strongly of himself, unabashed anger and hate just below the surface ready to strike at anyone. He shook his head, that wasn't him any more, he had learned that hate and anger only ate at you inside until you were cold and hollow.

"Okay, that's enough spite for one evening," Avian interrupted. "Let's watch our favorite movie!" Avian put _Queen of the Damned_ into the DVD player.

As the movie began to play, Gabrielle yawned and snuggled down into a soft spot on the couch. She had seen this movie so many times that it didn't matter if she fell asleep, besides there was something much more interesting to watch right next to her. Sephiroth eyed Irvine, making sure his "Ladies' man" friend didn't do anything stupid. Sephiroth, after watching Avian easily evade Irvine's attempts, settled back to watch the movie. Lestat had just met Marius and was becoming a vampire, when Avian felt herself falling asleep, forgetting that Irvine was on the couch also, nestled into the crook of his arm. She thought that it was the couch arm, but after it reached over her and held her, she thought _Shit…that sure as hell isn't the damn couch…_then she thought _oh, just screw it…hmmm…this is actually really comfy…_

Gabrielle was looking at Sephiroth, and when he caught her staring, she turned away, blushing. When she turned back, he was still staring at her with his piercing green eyes, and it was his turn to blush. She admired the way the crimson color rose slowly up his neck, to his face, oh how she wanted to just hold his face in her gaze forever…_wait a second, what am I thinking! I have been spending too much time reading love stories on _She glanced at Avian, who was curled up in Irvine's arms. _Sheesh, Avian doesn't waste any time…_Gabrielle thought that Avian really did like Irvine, even though she acted annoyed with him. Gabrielle poked into Avian's mind for a moment, and could hear Avian thinking, "hmmmm…this is actually really comfy" and watched as Avian leaned farther into Irvine's chest, and soon she was asleep. Gabrielle decided to see if Sephiroth or even Vincent was thinking what she was thinking… She heard Vincent thinking, "Irvine had better not do anything stupid… Gabrielle'd whip his ass. Not to mention Seprioth, who's taken it upon himself to protect every girl involved with Irvine…"

Then Gabrielle heard Sephiroth thinking, "I wonder if Gabrielle would care if I just put my arm on the back of the couch…oh Ra, and I just want to hold her…"

Gabrielle quickly responded, and leaned into Seprioth, causing his eyes to widen his eyes at the beautiful girl in his lap, and she whispered, "I'm definitely thinking what you're thinking."

He smirked to himself and turned to face the movie, repeatedly looking at Gabrielle in the moonlight coming in from the window.

Irvine ran his fingers through Avian's gorgeous fiery hair, admiring the soft glow of it in the light of the full moon. She opened her eyes, looking as though she was going to smack Irvine for a moment, then smiled at him, her green eyes shining, and snuggled back in. In a few minutes, Avian's slow breathing told Irvine that she was asleep. He readjusted her so that she was propped up against his chest and between his legs, making for a more comfortable sleeping position for the both of them. He glanced at Sephiroth before he too drifted off because of Avian's warmth.

Sephiroth and Gabrielle were both sleeping, her lying with her head on his chest, and he had his arms around her, protectively. They were dreaming of each other, Vincent suspected, unless they only had their eyes closed, or unless they weren't dreaming. Leahann had gone to her room to be with Joey, even if he was a dumbass, and Vincent turned off the movie, and looked around at the resting couples, his eyes lingering for a moment on the sleeping Gabrielle. A dejected look crossed his face as he saw the faint smile on Gabrielle and Sephiroth's face. Then he walked away to Gabrielle's room, which Leahann had suggested he use. He fell over on her bed, falling asleep almost instantly, overcome by Gabrielle's scent filling his nose and thoughts of holding her close…


	3. morning after

Chapter 3

In the morning, Gabrielle's body woke up before she did. She looked at Avian and Irvine, entwined in each other's arms, and chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" demanded Sephiroth, whom she was practically sitting on.

"Oh, Avian acts as though she can't stand Irvine, and look at them now…" Sephiroth looked at them sleeping, and wished Gabrielle was still sleeping in his arms, and that he had been the first to wake up, so he could admire her peaceful beauty. Just then, a very disgruntled Leahann came into the room, dragging with her a bleary-eyed Joey. Leahann pulled a bullhorn from behind her back, and it let out a piercing squeal. Avian jumped, hitting Irvine on the chin with the top of her head. While Irvine was cursing and rubbing his chin, Avian had fallen off the couch, and was tangled in Irvine's trenchcoat with his cowboy hat covering her eyes. Irvine had apparently used his jacket to cover them last night. She got up, still blinded, and promptly tripped, Irvine catching her. He held her still, and gently lifted up the hat so that he could see her furious face. He said softly, "Well, fancy meetin' you here, little lady," then kissed her. _Woes betide him…_thought Leahann. Avian had been to Texas once, and all the guys hitting on her and calling her little lady had majorly pissed her off. Also Leahann was certain that no man kissed her without her knowing. Sure enough, Avian pile drove Irvine, and landed on top of him, cursing at the top of her lungs and punching him wherever she could get at. Gabrielle had to admit that Leahann was pretty damn good at wreaking some major havoc when she wanted to. Sephiroth, however, was not as amused as Gabrielle, and pulled Avian off Irvine, who was wincing as he clutched his side. Avian glared at Irvine, who grinned weakly anyway, and then huffed off to the kitchen to make breakfast. Suddenly, Vincent ran at top speed out of Gabrielle's room, a wild look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sephiroth asked him. Vincent looked around, spotted Gabrielle and asked, "How'd you get here so fast!"

"What are you talking about? I was with Sephiroth all night!" She said, blushing slightly. Vincent spluttered, "Bu- wha- when you- and I…" Then the answer to everyone's question came out of Gabrielle's room. Avian came out of the kitchen asking, "Guys, what…" She trailed off as she saw what the problem was. Another Gabrielle was leaning against the doorjamb, watching them all calmly.

"What'cha all staring at?" Joey asked cluelessly.

"You moron" Leahann smacked Joey over the head with a frying pan and pointed to the other Gabrielle standing in the doorway.

"Mornin' guys" the other Gabrielle yawned and took a seat at the table, "What? Is my hair on fire or something?"

"No, but who are you?" Gabrielle asked eyeing her double suspiciously.

"Who am I? You of all people should know Gabrielle, I've been with you since you were born."

"Wait, Ketaruema?" Gabrielle stared in disbelief. "You can't be her, you just can't."

"And why not? You've talked to me often enough."

"Yeah, but I thought I was talking to myself!"

"Am I the only one here who's just a little weirded out?" Avian asked.

Irvine mockingly went to hide behind Avian, who smacked him with a frying pan she was holding from pancake making.

"Hey, Gabrielle, do you think you could explain this!" said Vincent.

"Sure, my guess on the whole thing is this: the concentration of this many mutations and me using my powers must have amplified and mutated my powers causing them to stem off into a separate entity, henceforth creating Ketaruema."

"Huh? Could ya explain that again, in English this time please." Joey asked scratching his head.

"You moron!" Leahann raised the frying pan that Avian had given her to strike Joey but he whimpered and gave her his best puppy dog eyes and Leahann lowered the pan. "Gabrielle, you don't have to explain again, Joey's just being stupid."

"And so the weirdness ensues…" Gabrielle sighed and took a seat at the table across from her mutant twin.

"Quit calling me mutant!" Ketaruema shouted, "I can hear what you're all thinking!"

"¬­¬ ⌐­⌐" They all looked at each other and then back to Gabrielle and Ketaruema.

"Okay enough weirdness, let's just eat breakfast." Said Avian, quite used to so much weirdness due to her friends.

"Then you must have some weird friends." said Ketaruema.

Avian glared at her, and then said, "Okay, new rule. If you read someone's mind, keep your comments to yourself." Then everyone fell silent and ate their pancakes. Vincent kept glancing at Ketaruema, and Sephiroth did also, from Ketaruema to Gabrielle. After breakfast, the girls (except Ketaruema) went to their rooms to change outfits. Irvine glanced at the other guys, and they all grinned evilly. Irvine dashed to Avian's room, opened the door and dashed in, shutting the door behind him. Everyone put their fingers in their ears and cringed as Avian let out a shriek that probably made hell freeze over. She came running out of her room, chasing Irvine who was running for dear life. Avian was only wearing a flannel button-up shirt and had a pair of boxers. The flannel shirt was half-open, and it barely covered any indecencies. Irvine was laughing, yet still looked terrified. Avian finally caught up to him, and tried to bash his face in as she jumped on his back. He caught her and kissed her while she was fighting furiously, and oddly enough, as everyone watched, she kissed him back, stretching against his body. They walked backward to her room, still making out furiously. They went into her room, and Avian shut the door part way with her foot. Out of the door came a cowboy hat, a flannel shirt, and a trenchcoat.

"Okay, either there's a fondle-fest going on in there, or they're killing each other. I'm praying for the latter of the two." Exclaimed Gabrielle.

When Sephiroth had opened Gabrielle's door, he had been pulled in by the scruff of his neck. He was to help her pick out an outfit. Sephiroth walked into Gabrielle's closet and was amazed to see nothing but black leather, black leather shirts, mini-skirts, pants, trenchcoats, boots, pajamas, and other unmentionable objects of clothing.

"My God, is this all you own!" Sephiroth exclaimed.

"Yep, basically, I think I have one black silk dress for funerals though." Gabrielle started rummaging through her identical wardrobe when Sephiroth stopped her.

" I can't believe you have a problem deciding what to wear, everything's the same! Here just go put this on." Sephiroth handed Gabrielle a bundle of black leather.

"Okay, thanks." She said as she skipped off to change. Gabrielle appeared a few seconds later dressed in black leather pants, a low-cut leather shirt, and a silver leather trenchcoat with metal shoulder guards. "I didn't know I owned anything like this." Gabrielle stated, adjusting her shoulder guards.

"You don't, but I thought you needed a change from black leather, so I lent you my trenchcoat. If nothing else, it looks good on you. So how do I look?" Sephiroth asked teasingly.

"Well, I'd put a shirt on if I were you, because you draw far too much attention, being all buff and good looking as you are."

"But do you **want** me to put a shirt on?" Sephiroth asked with a smirk.

"That I believe, is a question for another time." Gabrielle glided over and wrapped her hand around his bicep, a smile spread across Sephiroth's face as Gabrielle began to rub his arms then work on up to his shoulders until she was giving him a full out body massage.

"Gabrielle, I think you should close the door." Sephiroth said pushing Gabrielle's soft hands off his chest.

"All right. But since you-" Gabrielle opened the door and in fell Leahann and Joey, who had both been listening in. "What the hell are you two doing!" Gabrielle screeched, her playful mood ruined.

"Uhh, would you believe that the hallway's slanted funny and we fell into your door the exact moment you opened it?' Leahann asked innocently.

"No, now out." Gabrielle said in a calmly poisonous tone.

"Well, uhh, bye!" Leahann and Joey ran out of the room and down the hall. Gabrielle chased them to the end of the hall then got bored.

"Well that ruins everything." Sephiroth called while buttoning one of Gabrielle's unisex black leather shirts. Gabrielle walked back to her room and shut the door, and locked it this time.

Now the two were standing there, watching clothes fly out of the door to Avian's room. Suddenly, the clothes stopped, and Avian and Irvine came out of the room, fully dressed.

"Mwaha, fooled you!" Said Avian, though they had been making out, they hadn't gone any farther. Avian had changed in her walk-in closet while Irvine threw the various clothing items out the door. They had wanted to freak everyone out, and had succeeded brilliantly. (Note to reader: we probably psyched you out too! Mwahahahahaha!) Avian had chosen a plaid miniskirt and a black T-shirt with a pair of thigh-length black leather boots. Irvine looked at her boots and asked, "Geez, how many cows did you guys kill?"

"I wouldn't be talking, Mr. Leather trenchcoat, boots, and hat and probably underwear too…"

"Okay! I get the idea!" Irvine said, raising his hands.

Avian took his hand and said, "Let's go somewhere now." to everyone. They had a brief argument about whether to go to the theater, shopping, or window shopping for cars. They ended up deciding on the theater, as most of them wanted to go somewhere dark and cozy. So, everyone went to the guy's apartment so they could put on some clean clothes. Irvine came out wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, and his usual cowboy hat. Gabrielle had gone into Sephiroth's room, and of course, everyone figured what they were doing…

Sephiroth had pulled Gabrielle into his room when no one was looking. She was helping him decide what to wear now.

"There's no Leahann this time to ruin the mood." Sephiroth whispered in Gabrielle's ear. He took off his shirt, and teasingly walked to his closet. Gabrielle followed, and when he got there and started to look around, she slid in front of him. He got the idea, and kissed her. It was like an explosion of fire. They were having a full-fledged "fondle-fest" as Gabrielle had called it earlier. By the time they stopped, they were lying on the floor, their clothes somewhat wrinkled. Gabrielle got up and brushed herself off, and Sephiroth got up also. She ran a hand down his smooth chest, and he kissed her again. Finally they picked out a black T-shirt for him to wear and walked out of Sephiroth's room. Everyone adverted their eyes as they walked into the room.

"Where's Vincent?" Gabrielle stared around, both Vincent and Ketaruema were missing.

"Well when you and Sephiroth went to his room, he got all red and said he had to go." Avian stared at her hands like they were an alien life form.

"Don't worry, he does this all the time." Sephiroth added putting his arm around Gabrielle's shoulder and pulling her tight.

"Where'd he go though?" Avian asked as if this was her fault.

"Ou! Ou! Ou! I know!" Leahann was practically falling out of her chair, "He said he was going back to our apartment!" Avian shook her head, never again would she let Leahann make coffee-pancakes…

They left the men's apartment, finally, and went to the movie theater. They went to see _The Phantom of the Opera _and bought some snacks, then took their seats.

"Why did we have to see this movie!" Gabrielle threw her hands up in question, as if asking god 'why?' then slumped down in a sticky yet comfy movie theater seat.

"Because it was the longest movie and the darkest with the most make-out-able scenes." Avian winked nudging Gabrielle and pointing to Sephiroth. Gabrielle knew what she meant.

"But what about poor Vincent, all alone with Ketaruema at our apartment."

"Oh, he'll be fine, now go sit over there by Sephiroth, the movie's starting." Avian pointed to the farthest row back and said, "Let's sit back there." Irvine was no where to be seen. Just as Avian was sitting down, he reappeared, sitting down and putting his hand in Avian's chair. She sat down on his hand, and was not peeved at all, but Irvine turned bright red. As the movie started, Leahann and Joey sat down a few rows in front of Avian and Irvine.

"Hey there's Kaiba!" Joey shouted pointing to a person a few rows down.

"Damnit, I've been found, worst of all, by the mutt!" Kaiba ducked and ran for the theater door closely followed by a tall brunette.

"Stop!" Joey ran after Kaiba demanding a rematch, Leahann suitably embarrassed ran after him and out of the theater.

"Well, Irvine, I guess it's just you, me, Gabrielle, and Sephiroth." They all sat down in their respective seats. (Avian and Irvine had stood up to see Joey make a moron of himself.) Irvine wrapped an arm around Avian's seat, and she snuggled into him. Sephiroth and Gabrielle were already making out…

Back at the apartment, Vincent was staring across the table at Ketaruema.

"So that was you last night, not Gabrielle, right?" Vincent questioned, Ketaruema was strange, he thought, she looked and acted exactly like Gabrielle, but her voice was different and her eyes were a slightly deeper color of gold rimmed with red, the only indication of her powers. Unlike Vincent whose eyes were pure red, Ketaruema, you'd swear had cat's eyes, and her long golden, red tinged hair reminded him of a book he'd once read, 'Blood and Gold'.

"Hello-o-o, earth to Vincent." Ketaruema's voice snapped him out of the trance.

"Hmm, what? huh?" Vincent blinked and rubbed his neck he felt two scabs right below his ear, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and here she was looking as if she had just woken from a thousand year sleep.

"oh, poor Vincent" Ketaruema laughed "I'd better let you get some sleep."

When she laughed, Vincent noticed her canines were longer than before, and her skin was a more porcelain tone, but he didn't care, he finally had someone who understood him. He was so tired he fell asleep on the table. Ketaruema got up and got him a blanket, carefully avoiding the patch of sunlight coming through the curtains then went to Gabrielle's room to sleep.


	4. More problems

Chapter 4

The gang came home to find Vincent still asleep on the table; Avian dropped her coat and ran to Vincent, sensing something wasn't right she tried to wake him. Vincent didn't wake up, Avian panicked she shook him once again, his hair slid off his neck revealing the twin wounds on it. Gabrielle walked in, she saw Vincent, she dropped the popcorn and pop she was carrying and ran to find Ketaruema.

When Gabrielle came across Ketaruema sleeping on her bed, she shook her violently and demanded of her, "What the HELL did you do to Vincent!" Ketaruema got up groggily, apparently unconcerned.

"Huh? Do what?" Ketaruema rubbed her eyes and yawned then pulled the covers up over her head. This annoyed Gabrielle to no end.

"You know what!" Gabrielle was pissed, and Ketaruema knew it, she didn't need to be psychic to know not to anger her more.

"No, I really don't know, what'd I do know?" Ketaruema asked innocently. Receiving no reply, she flopped back onto the bed and waved her pale hand to shoo Gabrielle away.

"You vampirized Vincent!" Gabrielle yelled at the top of her lungs. In the other room Avian, Sephiroth, and Irvine heard Gabrielle shouting and came running to see what was the matter. When they saw Gabrielle yelling at Ketaruema, they backed off slowly; they didn't want to get into the fight. Irvine bumped into something, and turned around. Irvine yelled and took off running, colliding with Avian and Sephiroth in the process.

"Woah, Irvine, what's up. You look like you saw a ghost! You didn't, right?" asked Avian nudging him in the ribs. Sephiroth on the other hand did not find Irvine's current state amusing in any way.

"It, he, what? No! Mughf, neine aargh" Irvine attempted to say something of utmost importance, but his tongue refused to comply.

"Irvine, what's wrong?" Avian felt a pang of pity for Irvine as he shook uncontrollably and mumbled incoherent phrases and words. "Sephiroth, we'd better go get Gabrielle, there's something wrong with Irvine." Sephiroth glared back at Avian as if to say, well duh!

"All right, I'll go get Gabrielle, if it'll put you at ease." With that Sephiroth stalked of to Gabrielle's room. As he reached for the door handle he realized something wasn't right, there wasn't any movement inside, no argument being played out, not even the gentile sound of slow breathing. He opened the door and stepped in, his eyes were immediately drawn to the floor, one pale streak of moonlight shone through the black velvet curtains. He followed the streak towards a black shrouded shape. Stooping down he moved the black sheet. Sephiroth gasped and dropped the sheet. In the moon light he saw a face that he could never forget. On the floor wrapped in a sheet was Gabrielle, in a panic Sephiroth searched for a pulse, he found one, it was faint but strong, worst of all, Gabrielle was cold and she wasn't breathing. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest, his eyes shut tight…_wait a minute_…he felt scabs on her neck against his cheek, and they weren't there before…he would know, he had been kissing her there earlier. He opened his eyes and pulled back a strand of his love's hair, to find the scabs, the same size and shape as the ones on Vincent's neck. The two had a connection, he was sure of it…_Ketaruema!_ She was no where in sight, and she was the only one who could have done this. She was, after all, a vampire…


End file.
